Extreme variability in an active galactic nucleus: Gaia16aax

Abstract

We present the results of a multi-wavelength follow up campaign for the luminous nuclear transient Gaia16aax, which was first identified in January 2016. The transient is spatially consistent with the nucleus of an active galaxy at z=0.25, hosting a black hole of mass $\sim 6\times 10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$. The nucleus brightened by more than 1 magnitude in the Gaia G-band over a timescale of less than one year, before fading back to its pre-outburst state over the following three years. The optical spectra of the source show broad Balmer lines similar to the ones present in a pre-outburst spectrum. During the outburst, the $\mathrm{H}\hat{\mathrm{I}}\pm$ and $\mathrm{H}{\hat{\mathrm{I}}}^2$ emission lines develop a secondary peak. We also report on the discovery of two transients with similar light curve evolution and spectra: Gaia16aka and Gaia16ajq. We consider possible scenarios to explain the observed outbursts. We exclude that the transient event could be caused by a microlensing event, variable dust absorption or a tidal encounter between a neutron star and a stellar mass black hole in the accretion disk. We consider variability in the accretion flow in the inner part of the disk, or a tidal disruption event of a star $\ge 1M_{\odot }$ by a rapidly spinning supermassive black hole as the most plausible scenarios. We note that the similarity between the light curves of the three Gaia transients may be a function of the Gaia alerts selection criteria.

21 pages, 17 figure - accepted for publication in MNRAS main journal